Alright since its almost content complete and only missing Halo 4 at the time of writing here's a small summary of what to expect on PC from this, not a review of every single title on its own.

word of warning: i'm not an OG purist so i'll look at most changes throughout the series from the same perspective i look at all other games and their sequels with a single question in mind: "do i like the change or not?" for this review/summary i will however, not even touch on those subjects since they are at the very core irrelevant for new players deciding if they want to buy this collection or not.

- No Microtransactions! no RNG to unlock cosmetics and NO BS. Complete challenges/achievements and simply play the game to unlock everything it has to offer, the way it should be with ALL games.

- Price: an absolute steal even considering these are "old" games.

- From a Tech Point of view all games so far run great on modern hardware (you can check my setup on my profile, in short its pretty much the end of high end for 1440p/144hz but these games will most likely run just as well on 5 year old hardware), no crashes or technical issues aside from what is mentioned below on my end

- Engaging Story throughout all games so far, if you've never played these games before and just want to experience the story, its well worth it for that alone. Its no mass effect or witcher but is still on the better end of the spectrum when it comes to the story and overall storytelling

- Co-op has been working without issues for me until Halo 2 in which the 2nd player doesn't get the "coop" completion stat in the mission overview, there seems to be some issues with how lobbies work outside of Reach and CE, but this does not seem to interfere with achievements or anything other then a visual representation of you beating the mission. The Coop itself ran flawlessly so far for all players.

- Huge amount of content for single player alone, lots of challenges and achievements to chase including stuff that sadly these days exists very rarely: challenges/difficulty spikes that will only be completed by very dedicated players (i.e legendary campaigns / timed legendary challenges and other stuff) in other words: challenges worth pursuing for those of us who look for a challenge and therein unique cosmetic rewards to show off.

- A unified platform for technically 6 games (halo reach -> halo 1 -> 2 -> 3 -> odst and soon halo 4 as well as their full MP and PVE modes like firefight) with shared unlocks for individual multiplayer components, stat tracking for SP and MP and much more. The mcc also includes the Forge, but i haven't really delved into that mode yet (custom map/moded creation)

- Graphical settings are lackluter, two options Standard and [/b] Enhanced [/b] without the options to adjust specific settings. However the games do look surprisingly good with the Enhanced setting and run well at 1440p uncapped fps (which brings me to the next issue)

- FPS cap/limit and refresh rate, there is no way to cap the game at 144fps or set the refresh rate to 144hz. While you will still technically run the game at 144hz (at least the sync settings on my screen is showing 144 while playing, and it does feel like it as well) keep in mind that modern hardware runs these games well beyond 500+ fps with uncapped settings. This also seems to mess with the hit detection, its not the end of the world but it'll kill you on legendary more then a few times.

- MP is pretty much not enjoyable since mouse/keyboard players are forced to play against aim assisted (very very strong auto aim) controller players, 343i did say they would deliver input based matchmaking with or shortly after Halo 4, if you're just buying for the MP, i'd suggest you wait until this is implemented.

- Some light bugs here and there regarding achievements and challenges, but as of right now most of it works, with a very slim chance of running into some that still won't unlock.

- here is probably a huge nitpick that won't affect anyone who doesn't own very expensive audio equipment: if you do, however beware for some sound crackling and equalization issues, especially noticeable with quality headsets or a somewhat loud 7.1 to 9.1 setup. I'm sitting in a soundproof room with specialized equipment to get the best audio quality possible and there is certainly a lot of compression and normalization going on with how the sound files are mixed. But again 95% of all players will probably never notice any of this outside some mild volume issues.


Fun Factor: 9/10

Ultimately, is the collection worth it for newcomers? absolutely, if you're looking for a fun fps with an enjoyable story and old-school level design (think early to late 2000s) this collection is a must have. While i wouldn't say the mechanics and gameplay would hold up to modern fps standards (like doom or wolfenstein) its a blast from the past that will hook you if you can look past some of the dated graphics/gameplay and level design.

Its priced fairly, does not include any form of Microtransactions or loot boxes and gives you tons of content for both single and multiplayer. Furthermore the pros certainly outweigh the cons so if you're even slightly interested, the Maser Chief Collection, in my experience is very much something you should treat yourself to.